Metallic piston-packing



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ASA G. BILL, OF CUYAHOGA FALLS, OHIO.

METALLIC PISTON-PACKING.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 23,489, dated April 5, 1859.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ASA G. BILL, of Cuyahoga Falls, in the county of Summit and State of Ohio, have invented a new and Improved Piston-Packing; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, in which Figure 1, is a horizontal section of my invention, the line 00, m, Fig. 2, indicating the plane of section, and Fig. 2, is a vertical central section of ditto.

Similar letters of reference in the two figures indicate corresponding parts.

This invention relates to pistons with a packing made of metallic rings, and it consists in expanding those rings equally all around by means of two levers which are placed on the central hub of the piston and which operate on a ring which is placed into the packing rings and which is cut open on one side so that the levers by pressing on the opposite edges of this cut or gap expand this ring equally all around, and that by the action of this ring on the packing rings, the latter are expanded and pressed against the sides of the cylinder; said levers to be operated by a cam to which a ratchet wheel is attached, so that the ring may be gradually expanded without opening the piston.

To enable others skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my piston packing I will proceed to describe the same.

A, is the head of a piston to which the hub B, is attached, and the follower C, is secured on it by means of screws a, in the usual manner. The packing consists of two metallic rings D, D, which are cut open on one side as seen at b, Fig. 1, so that the same allow of an expansion, these cuts being made oblique and placed on opposite sides of the piston as is usually done in order to prevent the escape of the steam and an unequal wear of the cylinder. A ring E, is placed into the other rings D, D, which is of the same width as the two former put together and which fits closely into them, and a gap c, is made into this ring in a vertical direction and two pins (Z, are fastened in its outer surface which extend through the cuts 6, in the rings D, D. Two levers F, F, are placed over the central hub B, which serves for their fulcrum and these levers have two arms each, which extend on opposite sides from the hub. The arm f, of the lever F, presses against the socket of one of the screws a, with which the follower is attached, and its other arm g, extends to the gap 0, in the ring E. The arm g, of the lever F, extends also into this gap, so that these two arms 9, 9, press on tie opposite edges which are strengthened by plates 6, c, and the other arm 7", of the lever F, is operated on by means of a cam G, the stem h, of which extends up through the follower and terminates in a square part so that it can easily be turned with a wrench or key fitted to it. A ratchet wheel H, is fastened on the stem h, of the cam and a pawl 2', which is pressed against the ratchet wheel by a spring j, allows of turning the same in one direction only, and it serves to arrest the cam in any position into which it may have been brought. The shape of this cam is such that by turning the same the arm g, is pressed in more and more.

The operation is as follows: The piston is placed into the cylinder before the rings are expanded in which state it can easily be entered and after it has been adjusted and properly fastened to the engine the cam G, is turned so as to act on the lever F. By pressing in the arm 9, the arm f, is forced out so that it acts on the edge of the gap 0, in the ring E, and as this ring is prevented from slipping, by the arm f, of the lever F, which presses on the opposite edge of the gap 0, it is expanded by the action of the cam equally all around and as it fits closely into the rings D, D, these latter will be brought up tightly against the sides of the cylinder, and in case of any wear the smallest turn of the cam G, will bring up the rings again and the piston may thus easily be kept tight, and as the expansion is equal -all around, the cylinder will always wear round and no new boring out Will be rea ring E, and which are operated by means qnired. of a cam Gr, substantially as and for the pur- Having .thus described my invention What 1 pose setforth.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Let ASA G. BILL. 5 ters Patent, is: 1 Witnesses:

The arrangement of the arms F, F, on JAMES H. BYRNE, the central hub B, of a piston which act on i C. W. CHAMBERLAIN. 

